Frankie Edgar wouldn’t let a third fight with Gray Maynard go to a decision this time, as he topped his foe and retained his lightweight title at UFC 136 in Houston.

The third fight started a lot like their previous meeting at UFC 126, but Edgar pounded away at Maynard in the fourth round to win the bout by technical knockout.

The champion and challenger were patient and circled the Octagon early. Later, Edgar swarmed on Maynard for a brief clinch, but they separated a shortly after. Maynard then landed an uppercut and wobbled the champ. Edgar took some more shots from the challenger and was rocked a couple more times. Maynard attempted some more uppercuts and pressured the champion, leaving the title holder wobbly until the end of the round. The first round of this match-up was a near mirror image of their previous fight’s first round.

Maynard measured patiently as he waited for a chance to land another uppercut after the second round got underway. Frankie landed a left hand that left a mark early in the round, but there was no immediate follow-up to that. Later, the champ landed a right hand, but Maynard didn’t fall back at all. Edgar’s attempts at clinching and takedowns were also met with strong defense from the challenger. Maynard didn’t land any major powershots in the second frame and Edgar seemed to find his rhythm a little more.

Maynard continued to try and find his uppercut, while Edgar did what he could to circle and land quick combinations. Maynard didn’t find the powerpunch that helped in the first round and Edgar continued to do his typical dance and avoid his opponent, while at the same time finding some strikes that scored points. Edgar continued to pepper Maynard until the end of the round and edged him in the third frame.

Edgar continued to find combinations into the championship rounds. He landed several strikes and solidified the advantage on the feet halfway through the round with both legkicks and punches. Edgar managed to land an uppercut that wobbled the challenger and followed through with massive right hands that dropped Maynard. After Maynard went to the ground, the champ stayed on the attack kept striking from behind until his opponent was out and the ref stepped in to stop the contest 3:54 of the fourth round.

Despite being rocked in the opening frame, Edgar persevered and retained his UFC lightweight title in Houston.

“I hit him with a right hand and… I [saw] him rocked and I just went in for the kill,” Edgar said in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

With the win, Edgar avenges the only loss of his career and bests a no.1 contender that’s been chasing him for quite some time. Edgar improves his record to 14-1-1, while in the first defeat of his pro career, Maynard drops to 10-1-1, overall.

The lightweight title picture is still far from in focus, however, with UFC president Dana White’s proclamation that Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez is on his way to the UFC. It appears that there are still some tough fights in the future of Frankie Edgar.

I see “The Answer” as the legitimate #1 Lightweight in MMA after tonight’s performance. No doubt!

The fight that should happen now is obviously Frankie Edgar vs. Gilbert Melendez.

Cptmats

Melendez should earn his shot like every one else, there are a few who should get a shot first ! Guida should be next and prob Henderson gets the winner of that!

Mario

Clay Guida is fighting Ben Henderson next you idiot. That’s possibly gonna be looked at as a number #1 contender type fight. The winner of that fight can get the winner of Frankie vs. Melendez.

Gilbert is a champion, ranked top 5. He doesn’t need to prove much else at this point. Fighting for a UFC strap would seem more than deserving. He ain’t a contender like everyone else!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=501891998 josehernandez

Awesome. Now we can focus on having some variety in the 155 division. I’d love to see Jim Miller, Anthony Pettis, Ben Henderson, Mac Danzig, Matt Wiman, Mark Bocek, Thiago tavares, Gilbert Melendez, George Sptiropoulos, Nate Diaz, Clay Guida and others mix it up in there!! I would even like to see Roger Huerta and Kurt Pellegrino come back. Or bring in Sinya Aoki, Mitsuhiro Ishida and Tasuya Kawajiri.

Mario

Sinya Aoki?

Tasuya Kawajiri?

Never heard of ‘em!

Half of the guys you threw out will NEVER get to the title shot in my opinion.

Ben Henderson, Clay Guida, Jim Miller, Gilbert Melendez, those are more realistic. One would think Gilbert is getting the next crack considering the demand for him and his position with holding a title of his own.

That’s the fight I personally would like to see next.

jared499

DANG EDGAR HAS NO QUIT IN HIM WHAT SO EVER!!!!!!!!!I agree that Edgar deserves all the praise in the world for this fight. I was literally thinking during the 2nd and 3rd that Frankie was going to lose and would make a great opponent for Jose Aldo at 145lb, and I still think that Frankie would win that fight but now he is on a path for a mega fight with Gilbert Melendez. For all of you that are saying that Gilbert needs to earn his way to the title, WHAT the hell are you thinking. Melendez has fought very heavy competition in his last couple fights: Tatsuya Kawajiri, Shinya Aoki, Josh Thomson, and Mitsuhiro Ishida. Not to mention that he also holds a win over Clay Guida, who most will say should get the title shot if he beats Henderson.

If Dana decides to make the winner of Henderson/Guida the #1 contender for Edgar’s title, then the only fighter that Gilbert Melendez should be fighting is Gray Maynard. And obviously the winner of that fight is the next #1 contender.

Secondly I seriously hope that whoever said that they did not know who Tatsuya Kawajiri and Shinya Aoki was, was saying that due to the poster’s mispelling of their names. Either one of these fighters would be an excellant addition the the 155lb division.

Finally what was obvious in this fight, and even the fight in January, is that Maynard does not know how to finish fights. When he had Edgar down he had no killer instinct, like he was scarred to go in on Frankie. HE allowed Frankie back into this fight with a lazy and inactive 2nd round, a round that he definately won, but was not pushing as much as he should have. When Frankie put Maynard down, he did not let up and he went for the GNP kill.